[Xastir] Change to RELAY digipeat function

[Jeff Barlow]

James Ewen <jewen at shaw.ca>  wrote:

>When did Ham Radio become an all or nothing hobby?

I don't know. Have you tried mentioning something like OpenTRAC
on the big APRS SIG lately? There are folks for whom this is like
religion. From their point of view it clearly is all or nothing.

>Why do we need to have 100% backing from the existing APRS community before 
>anyone starts playing with different ideas or hardware?

Well, as long as we play somewhere other than 144.39, we don't.
Although, if there are just a few of us, many miles apart, I'm
not sure there's much point. I'd settle for 10% backing. Hell,
I'd settle for one or two hams within 100 miles of me who wanted
to work on it.

>Scott Miller N1VG has started working on the OpenTRAC protocol and project 
>without waiting for general public approval and support. It is possible that 
>Scott's OpenTRAC may take over and replace the APRS system.

It's possible, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Many, many
folks will never switch until they can buy off the shelf gear,
with ready made cables, and just plug it in.

My point was that building something (like OpenTRAC) is the sort
of thing I know how to do. Convincing manufacturers to build
compatible products and/or talking the appliance operators into
building their own rigs, is beyond my skill set.

>If that happens, will there still be people standing on the sidelines 
>complaining that there is a better way, but still not doing anything?

I guess I just don't much like beating my head against a brick
wall.

>Kudos to Scott for remembering that Ham Radio is about experimentation.

I too applaud his efforts. 

-- 
Later,
Jeff